Source: www.forum18.org
Date: April 14, 2026
https://www.forum18.org/archiv
By Felix Corley, Forum 18
At a hearing on the morning of 9 April, the Supreme Court in Minsk rejected
the appeal by the Greek Catholic Parish of the Brother Apostles Saints
Peter and Andrew in the western city of Brest against its enforced
liquidation. Brest Regional Court had earlier approved local officials'
suits to liquidate this and the two other Greek Catholic parishes in Brest
Region (in Baranovichi and Ivatsevichi). Any activity by the three parishes
is now illegal and punishable.
The regime's ban on any activity by unregistered religious communities
means that anything the Greek Catholic parishes in Brest Region now do is
illegal and punishable (see below).
"We entrust the faithful of the non-re-registered parishes in Brest,
Ivatsevichi and Baranovichi to the intercession of the Mother of God and
the Belarusian martyrs and the prayers of people of good will," the
unofficial Greek Catholic Telegram channel Carkva noted (see below).
The three parishes first gained state registration in the 1990s. Like all
religious communities that wanted to continue to exist under the new
Religion Law that came into force in July 2024, they were forced to seek
re-registration. Officials of Brest Regional Executive Committee rejected
their applications in 2025 and lodged the liquidation suits to court (see
below).
Yuliya Lyaskova, press secretary at the Supreme Court, refused to answer
any questions by phone. Forum 18 asked in writing:
- Whether the 9 April hearing had been open;
- When the court decision enters legal force; and
- Whether the decision is final or whether the parish can lodge a further
appeal.
Forum 18 has received no response (see below).
Two different officials at Brest Regional Court – one in the chancellery,
the other in the Civil Cases Division – refused to give Forum 18 any
information on the three liquidation cases (see below).
Forum 18 asked Pavel Bobruk, Head of the Ideology, Religious and Ethnic
Affairs Department at Brest Regional Executive Committee:
- why it had sent suits to the Regional Court to liquidate all three Greek
Catholic parishes in the Region; and
- where Greek Catholics should now go to pray.
"I can't give you any commentary by phone – unfortunately," he told Forum
18. Asked why he could not answer the questions, he responded: "Because I'm
a state official." He then put the phone down (see below).
In early 2026, following the enforced liquidation of the Greek Catholic
Parish of the Zhirovitsy Mother of God in Ivatsevichi, Fr Adam Straczyński
invited the Greek Catholic priest and parishioners to join worship at the
town's Roman Catholic church. Plenipotentiary for Religious and Ethnic
Affairs Aleksandr Rumak refused the Bishop's application to renew
permission for Fr Straczyński – a Polish citizen – to continue serving
in Belarus. He had to leave in early March (see below).
"Believers concluded that the likely reason for revoking the Polish
priest's licence to serve was that he had invited a Greek Catholic priest
from a liquidated parish to serve in the church," the independent Catholic
news outlet Katolik.life noted (see below).
Meanwhile, Catholics were not allowed to pray on 10 April at the tomb of
Edvard Vainilovich, a lay Catholic who financed the building of the
Catholic Church of Saints Simon and Helena (known locally due to its
brickwork as the Red Church) in central Minsk at the beginning of the 20th
century. The commemoration was to mark the tenth anniversary of the Church
declaring Vainilovich a Servant of God, the first step on the path to
beatification (see below).
The Church has been closed since a suspicious minor fire in a side room in
September 2022. Former parish priest Fr Vladislav Zavalnyuk said that Minsk
Heritage – which has control of the building - has not changed its
position. "They won't open the fence to allow us to go to the tomb," he
told Forum 18. He said he will ask for permission to hold a ceremony at
Vainilovich's tomb on 11 June, the 30th anniversary of the transfer of his
remains from Poland to the Red Church (see below).
Officials have continued to designate as "extremist" and ban websites and
social media sites – including some with religious content (see below).
Regime's tight controls on freedom of religion or belief
Against Belarus' international human rights commitments, any exercise of
freedom of religion or belief without state permission is illegal.
Individuals and communities can be punished
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Article 193-1 punishes "organisation of or participation in activity by an
unregistered political party, foundation, civil or religious organisation"
with a fine or imprisonment for up to two years.
The regime adopted a repressive new Religion Law which came into force on 5
July 2024 (https://www.forum18.org/archi
Law mandated a one-year timeframe for Belarus' more than 3,500 registered
religious communities to submit documentation for compulsory
re-registration by 5 July 2025. Any community that had not submitted a
re-registration application by the deadline – or whose application was
rejected - was to be liquidated through the courts.
Concern and secrecy surrounded the re-registration process
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
communities declined to discuss how it went and why some of their
communities did not regain state registration.
The office in Minsk of the Plenipotentiary for Religious and Ethnic Affairs
– which handled national or monastic re-registration applications – and
Regional Executive Committees – which handled local or regional
re-registration applications – appear to have re-registered fewer
communities than had registration before the adoption of the new Law.
Officials have not released full nationwide statistics
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
For the 5 out of Belarus' 7 regions for which statistics are known,
reductions in the number of individual registered communities range from
about 3 to 13 percent:
Gomel Region: 419 in January 2024, 380 in 2026;
Grodno Region: 491 in January 2024, 455 in 2026;
Minsk City: 159 in January 2024, 153 in 2026;
Mogilev Region: 299 in January 2024, 237 in 2026;
Vitebsk Region: 565 in January 2024, 492 in 2026;
Brest Region: 772 in January 2024, unknown in 2026;
Minsk Region: 714 in January 2024, unknown in 2026.
When the Plenipotentiary's Office in Minsk on 18 February 2026 registered
(for the first time) the Capuchin monastic order as part of the Conference
of Catholic Bishops, it gave it registration certificate No. 159. While 173
organisations had registration at the national level in January 2024, this
means that at most 158 gained re-registration
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
level.
The Christian Vision group (which documents violations of freedom of
religion or belief and other human rights, and whose social media sites and
logo the regime has declared to be "extremist"
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
some cases, the liquidation of communities occurred for "natural reasons".
"For example, some Roman Catholic parishes in Mogilev Region existed 'only
on paper', but in reality, they were not functioning due to insufficient
numbers of parishioners," Christian Vision noted on 5 February
(https://belarus2020.churchby.
"Some parishes experienced a decline in membership due to death and
migration, while others were initially registered with a minimum number of
parishioners - in the hope that their numbers would increase in the future,
but this did not happen."
All 3 Greek Catholic parishes in Brest Region liquidated
During the compulsory re-registration of all religious communities, all
three Greek Catholic parishes in the western Brest Region lodged
re-registration applications with Brest Regional Executive Committee by the
deadline of 5 July 2025.
The Parish of the Brother Apostles Saints Peter and Andrew in the city of
Brest had first been registered in 1993, according to the Unified State
Registry of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs. The parish bought
a house in 1997 and converted it into a church. In June 2016, the Greek
Catholic Apostolic Visitor Sergei Gajek led the consecration of the new
facade for the church.
The Parish of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Baranovichi and the Parish of
the Zhirovitsy Mother of God in Ivatsevichi had both first been registered
in 1998.
However, Executive Committee officials deemed the three parishes' 2025
re-registration applications did not meet the new requirements. They sent
liquidation suits to Brest Regional Court.
On 23 December 2025, officials ruled to liquidate the Parish of the
Zhirovitsy Mother of God in Ivatsevichi, according to the Unified State
Registry of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs. The Register noted
that Brest Regional Court approved the liquidation suit. The Register –
as of 10 April – describes the parish as "in the process of liquidation".
On 17 February 2026, officials ruled to liquidate the Parish of Saints
Cyril and Methodius in Baranovichi, according to the Unified State Registry
of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs. The Register noted that
Brest Regional Court approved the liquidation suit. The Register – as of
10 April – describes the parish as "in the process of liquidation".
Officials also ruled to liquidate the Parish of the Brother Apostles Saints
Peter and Andrew in the city of Brest. Brest Regional Court approved the
liquidation suit. The parish appealed against the liquidation to the
Supreme Court in Minsk (see below).
The Unified State Registry of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs
– as of 10 April – describes the Brest parish as "functioning".
Two different officials at Brest Regional Court – one in the chancellery,
the other in the Civil Cases Division – refused to give Forum 18 any
information on the three liquidation cases by telephone on 13 April.
Neither official would say which state entity initiated the liquidation
suits and when the Court approved them.
Greek Catholic parish loses Supreme Court challenge
The Greek Catholic Parish of the Brother Apostles Saints Peter and Andrew
in the city of Brest lodged its appeal against liquidation to the Supreme
Court in Minsk. At a hearing on the morning of 9 April, the Court rejected
the parish's appeal and upheld Brest Regional Court's decision, the
unofficial Greek Catholic Telegram channel Carkva noted the same day
(https://t.me/carkva/8206#).
The decision appears to be final and cannot be appealed further.
Yuliya Lyaskova, press secretary at the Supreme Court, refused to answer
any questions by phone on 13 April. Forum 18 asked in writing the same day:
- Whether the appeal had been heard by the Court's Civil Division;
- Whether the 9 April hearing had been open;
- When the court decision enters legal force; and
- Whether the decision is final or whether the parish can lodge a further
appeal.
Forum 18 had received no response by the end of the working day in Minsk of
14 April.
Polish priest expelled for welcoming Greek Catholics?
Polish Catholic parish priest Fr Adam Straczyński – who had served in
Belarus for 11 years - and Fr Paweł Kruczek - for almost 20 years – were
forced to leave in spring 2026
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Dziemianko of Pinsk described their "forced departure" as "painful".
Plenipotentiary for Religious and Ethnic Affairs Aleksandr Rumak refused
the Bishop's request for the two to continue to be allowed to conduct
religious work in Belarus.
Andrei Aryayev of the Religious Department of the Plenipotentiary's Office
in Minsk and Irina Zakharevich of the Ideology Directorate of Brest
Regional Executive Committee both refused to discuss the refusals
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
March.
Fr Straczyński had served as priest of three parishes in Brest Region, in
Ivatsevichi, Kosava and Volka.
In early 2026, following the enforced liquidation of the Greek Catholic
Parish of the Zhirovitsy Mother of God in Ivatsevichi, Fr Straczyński
invited the Greek Catholic priest and parishioners to join worship at the
town's Roman Catholic church. Photos of the two priests at the altar were
posted on the Roman Catholic parish's Instagram page
(https://www.instagram.com/kos
"Believers concluded that the likely reason for revoking the Polish
priest's licence to serve was that he had invited a Greek Catholic priest
from a liquidated parish to serve in the church," the independent Catholic
news outlet Katolik.life noted on 13 April
(https://katolik.life/rus/news
"Although there was nothing illegal about this."
Since Fr Straczyński's enforced departure from Belarus in early March, no
photos of the Greek Catholic priest appear in parish photos, Katolik.life
added.
Ivatsevichi's Greek Catholic parish had previously met for worship in a
chapel in a converted home. It remains unclear if the chapel is still
available for worship under the auspices of the Roman Catholic parish.
Where can Brest Region's Greek Catholics meet for worship?
The regime's ban on any activity by unregistered religious communities
means that anything the Greek Catholic parishes in Brest Region now do is
illegal and punishable.
"We entrust the faithful of the non-re-registered parishes in Brest,
Ivatsevichi and Baranovichi to the intercession of the Mother of God and
the Belarusian martyrs and the prayers of people of good will," the
unofficial Greek Catholic Telegram channel Carkva noted on 9 April.
Independent Catholic news outlet Katolik.life describes the "de facto ban"
on Greek Catholic activity in Brest Region as "deeply symbolic in its
historical context".
"After all, it was here that the Greek Catholic Church was born in the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth: in 1596, the Union of Brest was adopted,
when the Orthodox Church recognised the supremacy of the Pope and Catholic
dogmas, while retaining the Byzantine Rite and Church Slavonic as the
language of worship," Katolik.life pointed out
(https://katolik.life/rus/news
Forum 18 asked Pavel Bobruk, Head of the Ideology, Religious and Ethnic
Affairs Department at Brest Regional Executive Committee:
- why it had sent suits to the Regional Court to liquidate all three Greek
Catholic parishes in the Region; and
- where Greek Catholics should now go to pray.
"I can't give you any commentary by phone – unfortunately," he told Forum
18 from Brest on 10 April. Asked why he could not answer the questions, he
responded: "Because I'm a state official." He then put the phone down.
Minsk: No prayers at church founder's tomb
Officials closed the iconic Catholic Church of Saints Simon and Helena
(known locally due to its brickwork as the Red Church) in central Minsk
after a suspicious minor fire
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
September 2022. Minsk Heritage, the building agency founded by the city
authorities that has control of the Church, has been intermittently
"restoring" the building since.
The former priest of the Red Church, Fr Vladislav Zavalnyuk, requested
access from Minsk Heritage
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
commemoration and prayers on 10 April 2026 at the tomb on the outside wall
of the Church of Edvard Vainilovich. A lay Catholic, he financed the
building of the Church at the beginning of the 20th century in memory of
his deceased son and daughter. The commemoration was to mark the tenth
anniversary of the Church declaring Vainilovich a Servant of God, the first
step on the path to beatification.
Fr Zavalnyuk met the director of Minsk Heritage Aleksandr Yatsko on 4
March. "He gave a negative response," Fr Zavalnyuk told Forum 18 in March
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
for a positive response."
Natalya Volkova of Minsk Heritage is overseeing the technical side of the
reconstruction. "Now it is a reconstruction facility and outsiders are not
allowed to enter," she told Forum 18 in March
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Fr Zavalnyuk said that Minsk Heritage has not changed its position. "They
won't open the fence to allow us to go to the tomb," he told Forum 18 on 8
April. He said Catholics would have to hold the commemoration "in the
parish". He said he will ask for permission to hold a ceremony at
Vainilovich's tomb on 11 June, the 30th anniversary of the transfer of his
remains from Poland to the Red Church.
More "extremist" designations and bans
The regime has banned as "extremist" and blocked many news websites and
social media channels related to religion. Human rights groups – such as
Viasna (Spring) and Human Constanta – and independent media outlets are
also among the many groups courts, the Interior Ministry or the KGB secret
police have declared "extremist".
Anyone who shares, copies or likes material from a site deemed "extremist"
risks punishment under Administrative Code Article 19.11 ("Distribution,
production, storage and transportation of information products containing
calls for extremist activities, or promoting such activities").
Anyone joining or providing information or an interview to such a site
risks punishment under Criminal Code Article 361-1 ("Creation of or
participation in an extremist organisation") or Criminal Code Article 361-4
("Supporting extremist activity").
On 23 March, Novopolotsk City Court declared "extremist" the Facebook page
of Belarusian Christian Democracy, an opposition political party whose
leaders have repeatedly been jailed. The Justice Ministry has repeatedly
refused to register the party. The regime had already declared other of the
party's internet and social media sites "extremist".
On 2 April, Zheleznodorozhny District Court in Vitebsk declared "extremist"
Orthodox Christian Dzmitry Korneyenko's page on the Russian social media
site VKontakte. Korneyenko is among the Christians from various Churches
who formed the group Christian Vision (https://belarus2020.churchby.
in September 2020, amid protests against the falsified presidential
elections, to document violations of freedom of religion or belief and
other human rights.
In 2023 and 2024, the regime blocked access in Belarus to Christian
Vision's website and banned its social media sites as "extremist".
On 1 April 2025, the KGB secret police ruled that Christian Vision, its
website and social media channels are "extremist" and are banned. Also
identified were three people linked to the group: Natallia Vasilevich,
Natallia Harkovich and Korneyenko. (All three, who are Orthodox Christians,
are outside Belarus.) The decision came into force on being issued
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Ministry added the group to its list of "extremist" organisations on 8
April 2025. (END)
More reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Belarus
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
For background information, see Forum 18's Belarus religious freedom survey
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Forum 18's compilation of Organisation for Security and Co-operation in
Europe (OSCE) freedom of religion or belief commitments
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
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